Category Archives: Videos
It should come as no surprise that a lesson on media literacy would accompany our big food unit in Biology. With food porn from Carl's Junior, weight loss advertisements, diet foods, teensy snack packages, and other not-so-subtle messages, food ads carry a pretty powerful message. I wanted my students to understand a few things about the real world:
Women do NOT look like that.
Men should not expect women to look like that.
You don't need to make love to your food in the back seat of...
We are in the midst of a unit on food and food systems ecology in my high school biology class, so I couldn't think of a better time for the HBO series Weight of the Nation to air. Even better is the fact that HBO is generously sharing this show with everyone, even if you aren't a subscriber.
I found this portion of the show especially compelling - it focuses on our nation's children and the obesity crisis we are currently in. Things definitely need to change around here. Maybe one...
As you can imagine, while I was building What's Cooking with Kids, I met some amazing people who care about good food and the health of our planet. I never expected that I'd meet farmers via Twitter - but that's how I met Rod Morrison, the owner of Rocky Mountain Organic Meats. We both care deeply about how animals are treated and about preserving the land for future generations.
When I was hired to return to the classroom to teach high school biology this year, I promised Rod that I'd somehow...
It's a lucky coincidence that during the same week that Pink Slime is making it big in the news, my students and I are discussing whether or not most foods are "natural."
After a week of extracting our own DNA and using some fancy borrowed equipment, my high school students are intrigued about the uses of biotechnology in the world. Aside from their obsession with all things CSI and forensics, they were also curious about what is in the foods that they eat. The concept of "fish-berries" had...
Regardless of your species, performance athletes require amazing REAL food to sustain their energy. On our winter vacation to Montana, our family had an adventure of a lifetime - we went dog sledding outside of Whitefish. The dogs were amazing athletes and ate an incredible diet.
Dog Sled Adventures was an awesome operation, filled with 121 dogs (plus lots of barking and loads of yellow snow.) The animals are very well cared for, getting lots of attention from the staff and all of the...
When planning our cooking summer camp, I wanted the students to be able to showcase their new culinary skills and confidence. We decided that an Iron Chef Challenge on the final day would be just the strategy.
The kids selected their own teams, evaluated the ingredients we had on hand, and then planned their menus. After approval from me, they began to prepare their food. The grand finale was their "camera challenge" where they had to present their dishes to the rest of the class, some guest...
On day 4 of our cooking summer camp, we walked to our local farmer's market, where we did some investigative journalism...
On our agenda was to learn about organic produce and meat - and why it was better for the environment. We were also eager to ask the pros about whether or not cucumbers were really a fruit or a vegetable. Along the way, we tasted amazing stone fruits, berries and a striped Armenian cucumber! Not a bad way to spend the morning!
Children are hungry for knowledge. And they are our future consumers. All the more reason to teach them how to harvest food and shop wisely. DooFAPalooza was the ideal venue to inspire kids to play with their food and learn how to have fun and make good choices at the same time.
Clean Fish led an interesting hands on activity with kids, teaching them about how shrimp are currently harvested. And even better than that? They made suggestions for a better alternative. Take a gander...
If...
Now that I have recovered from DooFAPalooza, I've had some time to put together this video from the amazing Chef Gino. He teaches children to cook in Los Angeles and spent the entire day at the festival teaching children how to make pasta from scratch. He was a hit with the kids and their families - and if you watch this video, you'll see why.
Can you believe making fresh pasta is as easy as...
Mixing 1 cup of flour with 1 egg. And as Gino says, if you are feeding a crowd - 55 cups of...
Unless you live in a cave, you know that school food has a bad reputation. I am excited to report that in our district, at least, it's getting better.
Our food service director surprised me with an invitation to visit Alvarado Street Bakery in Petaluma, where she plans to source the bread for our school district next year. My food service advisory committee colleague, Susannah, and I went to learn more about their sprouted wheat breads and got to see the inside workings of the bakery. Unfortunately,...
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